Category: Climate Change

Over the past several months, we have detailed how the Family Forest Carbon Program, a partnership between the American Forest Foundation (AFF) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is working to create a true carbon benefit.

Led by two mission-driven non-profits, the Family Forest Carbon Program is driving meaningful and lasting carbon sequestration and storage to help address our climate crisis. For all involved – from our organizations to the companies who purchase our verified carbon credits, to enrolled landowners who are contributing to a larger conservation movement– it is in our collective interest to ensure we are achieving real climate mitigation together.

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“I want my woods to be healthy.”

“I want to create better habitat for wildlife.”

“I want to pass on this land to my children and grandchildren.” 

Ask a family forest owner what drives them to own land and these are some of the most common phrases you will hear. But what do these desires have to do with measuring and calculating the carbon benefit of a forest carbon project? More than a ton, to say the least.

A forest carbon project pays forest owners to increase the carbon sequestered and stored in their forest. The project must measure the carbon impact before they are able to sell this carbon to companies in the form of verified carbon credits. 

To do this means measuring additionality or “Is the carbon generated from a forest carbon project because of the project or would it have happened absent the particular project or intervention?” 

To answer this question, most look to intention: Did the landowner intend to capture carbon in his/her trees regardless? While intention does play a role, it is often misinterpreted by those unfamiliar with the needs and behaviors of forest owners. 

Rather, to create a true carbon impact, a forest carbon project should factor intention into program design, yet measure real-life behavior. 

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Recently we dove into the complex, yet critically important concept of additionality to a forest carbon project. 

Ensuring additionality is essential to providing a credible and transparent climate benefit from our program.

Additionality asks, “Is the carbon generated from a forest carbon project because of the project or would it have happened absent the particular project or intervention?”  If it would have happened, regardless of the project, then the carbon is not additional – it is coincidental.  If, on the other hand, the carbon generated would not have happened but for the existence of the program, then the impact is indeed additional.

However, in a dynamic, complex system like forests, additionality is more than a yes or no question. What forest carbon projects must be able to do is to calculate how much of the carbon benefit is additional.  

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USDA Forest Service – Northern Research Station

Rhinelander, Wis., April 28, 2021– A research team from the USDA Forest Service and the University of Missouri has developed a new contaminant prioritization tool that has the potential to increase the effectiveness of environmental approaches to landfill clean-up.

Phytoremediation – an environmental approach in which trees and other plants are used to control leachate and treat polluted water and soil – hinges on matching the capability of different tree species with the types of contaminants present in soil and water. Identifying the worst contaminants within the dynamic conditions of a landfill has been challenging.

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There have been new detections of EAB in VT that have expanded the infested areas within Bennington, Caledonia, Lamoille, and Washington Counties. These new detections were discovered through seasonal monitoring for the presence of EAB using purple traps and trap trees. Because the EAB flight season has ended, we have concluded our surveying efforts for this year. We are thankful to all the volunteer Forest Pest First Detectors that assisted in these efforts. In total, 114 purple traps and 37 trap trees were surveyed with the help of 44 volunteer Detectors.   The  mapped area in Vermont to which Slow-the-Spread recommendations apply now extends to include the towns listed below in the following Confirmed Infested Area and High Risk Area.

• New Towns in the Confirmed Infested Area: Bennington, Peacham, Cabot, and Woodbury
• New Towns in the High Risk Area: Danville, Hardwick, Elmore, and Walden 

Confirmed Infested Areas are within 5 miles of a known infestation. While symptoms may not be obvious, EAB is likely to be present in much of this area. High Risk Areas extend 5 miles from the outer edge of a Confirmed Infested Area. EAB is likely expanding into and present in some of this area.
Forest landowners, homeowners, foresters, logging contractors, municipalities, and utilities in the infested area should evaluate the options available to them to protect ash trees and immediately implement Vermont’s  Slow the Spread recommendations.
If you have questions about managing ash in your woodlot or around your home, or need Use Value Appraisal guidance, check out the resources available at VTinvasives.org.

Ash is an important part of the forests in the Northeast. If you are lucky to have ash trees in your woods, they bring unique assets. Sadly, ash species are facing attack by the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), an invasive wood-boring insect that feeds on ash trees. EAB has been present in the U.S. since 2002, but in the last few years it has spread to the Northeast, posing a grave threat to the survival of our ash. All three ash species in the Northeast — white, black, and green ash — are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) because of the threat from EAB. Added to this, we are also facing impacts from climate change. But with thoughtful management we can give ash a fighting chance. Often when there is a threat to the forest, the first reaction is to act quickly, but if we learn from past forest outbreaks (like the spread of chestnut blight in the early 1900s) it pays to be careful about what we do so that we don’t lose ash completely. If your woodlot contains ash trees, you will have to weigh the important benefits of ash along with the threats of both EAB and climate change.
For Landowners: 10 Recommendations to Help You Manage Ash in Your Woods

For Foresters: Ten Recommendations for Managing Ash (with citations)